Paradoxically Yours...

Country Cordon Bleu

(prompt - 'taste' - 16th June 2017)

"It tastes exactly like Vegemite, I tell you!" Such a knowing voice, so absolutely sure. Why would you doubt your big brother?

Well! She remembered the time he casually asked her and their younger brother if they were hungry. Ha! As if a farm kid is ever NOT hungry!

When they nodded enthusiastically, he taught them to first get a leafy tree branch to ward off the rooster. "Big Red'll be after you the moment you nick into the chook-yard, but I'll keep him busy if you two collect some eggs."

She clenched her jaw, mouth in a tight downward curve, as her top teeth clamped into her lower lip. "Steal some eggs?" And she quivered. "Dad will know. He will."

"No, no, I've been watching - the chooks are going off the lay. Cold weather, I reckon. Some days he only gets half a dozen or so - IF he's lucky!"

"How many will we take?" Her voice had gone all whispery and 'scaredy-cat', but she couldn't help it. Imagine if Dad catches us! And he'll tell Mum too! This could be v-e-r-y bad.

"Three!" he said firmly in his deepest 'big brother' voice, although, at ten years old, it still had a way to go. "I've got the bread," and he pulled the scrunched up slices from the pocket of his jacket. She breathed a heavy sigh of relief - he'd put them in a plastic bag this time. Phew!

The raiding party was successful, and the three 'terrors' were soon squatting around a tiny fire in the humpy cum not-tree-house they'd made from the best half of an old, busted up rainwater tank. 'Big brother' (alias the family firebug) hadn't forgotten the nicked matches, quite a few twists of paper, and some good twiggy bits of branches. Toast over the flames, eggs cooking on an old sheet of flat iron - all was a sensational success. UNTIL... Dad was sighted down the paddock, coming home for morning cuppa - and he would be coming RIGHT past the cubby house!

Despite the tears and protests of the two younger siblings, the eggs and toast bit the dust, whilst 'the man' of the group furiously smothered the small fire. Unbelievably, Dad's attention was side-tracked by a cow with her ear-tag caught in the fence wire, and then he came home far away and upwind. Now the tears fell in earnest - we were told many, many years later.

But big brother's trick for this day was to convince our daughter the Creosote painted on the fence posts to keep away white ants, was actually Vegemite. "Yep," he promised, with eyes stretched wide (would I lie to you?), "... the exact same stuff Mum spreads on your toast each morning. True!! Have a lick and see!"

And she did - and came in screaming. It took much cuddling and sloshing of milk around her poor little mouth to soothe the impossible burn. Creosote is painful on soft outer skin - can we imagine inside the mouth? As I also remember, big brother had some difficulty sitting down that night when Dad learned what his little princess had endured.

Author's Note:

Vegemite is a thick, black Australian food spread made from leftover brewers' yeast extract with various vegetable and spice additives. It was developed by Cyril Percy Callister in Melbourne, Victoria in 1922.

Some vow you need to be Australian-born to love it.

I can only confirm that I am and I do.